Vacuum container



H. GOLDSMIIH.

VACUUM CONTAINER. APPLICATION, FILED FEB. 28, 1921..

Patented June 6, 1922.

Herman oZdS'mL/@g y Jaw, W/MMHUY@ WSE BilFltIVIAN GOLDSMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR-TO I'TI-IE AMERICAN TOBACCO' ras Para 'i-Fiicm COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VACUUM CONTAINER To all w 110m z't may concern:

Be 1t known that I, HERMAN GoLDsMITH,

I a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuumv Containers. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a container structure and more particularly to a container of the type in which the cover is hermetically sealed to thebody ofthe container, the con tainer being adapted to be exhausted to produce a vacuum receptacle and has; special reference to the provision of such a vacuum container or receptacle in which the cover 4is hingedly connected to the body and 1n which the step of sealing the cover to the body will not interfere with the integrity of the hinge elements and in which the hinge is so housed or enclosed as to permittheproduction of a'vacuum receptacle.

" time.

In the packaging of tobaccol and other products it is the practice to provide a con tainer in which all the walls are hermetically sealed to permit exhaustion of the air inthe container afterthe packaging opera-J tion in order to produce a vacuum receptacle, in which t-he products may be kept and stored for an indefinite period of time without deterioration.

A fo'm of container usually used for this purpose consists of a receptacle having a removable slip-on cover, the cover being provided with depending flanges frictionally fitting the body walls of the container, a ripstrip being provided forvhermetically sealing the closely fitting flange edges to the container walls. In order to permit an effectivel seal between cover and body, thevpractice has been to provide covers with parts tightly fitting the container walls; and in order to rsecure this prior constructions have been limited, asfar as I am aware, to removable slipf covers, moreover, being subject to liability S-pecication'of Letters Patent. Ptented June 6, 1922 Application filed February 28, 1921.v Serial No. 448,382.

movable cover, it-has been found desirable A to package the product in a container havingr a nonremovable cover in the form of a hinged cover. ever, has been encountered in the production of a container provided with a hinged cover which could be effectively sealed to the body walls of the container without destroying the integrity and utility of the hinge. Fur-v thermore, the difculties have been multiplied in the type of box construction in which the body walls are slitted for the. production of the hinge pintle receiving ears or depressions', such slits being difficult to close. especially where a vacuum tin`is required g. it being necessary, furthermore, to close such slits without destroy-ingthe effectiveness of the hingle elements to Ypermit free opening of the cover after breaking of the seal. After considerable experimentation I have devised a box construction in which the elementsare related in a simple manner, yet in which I provide a hinged cover construction effectively hermetically seaied to the body walls of the container, the hinged cover being housed and protected during the sealing operation, in which the hinge elements are effectively sealed and in which, after the breaking of the seal', the cover may be freely opened and closed on its hinge.

' Furthermore, in the manufacture of containers provided with slip-on covers, where quantity production is requisite, difficulty has been'experienc'ed in 4properly positioning the ,sealing or rip-strip for hermetically sealing same to the cover and walls, it"

having been found necessary t'o provide grooves or beads in the container body walls Considerable difficulty, howto facilitate rapid`and'accurate positioning of the rip-strip to the container body and cover. The provision of such grooves or beads necessitates additional manufacturing steps with a resulting increment added on tothe ultimate' cost of the container. I have found that the rip 'orfseal'ing strip may be so 'constructedand related to the hinge elements Aof the cover that the cooperation of these elements during assembly for the sealing step will provide a ready means for locating and. also loekingthe rip-strip in i strip .tn fit over the top proper registering both the cover and The principal objects of my\present in.

vention therefore include, besides the provi` sion of a hinged cover vacuum container; the provision of such a container in which the hinge elements are housed yand protected duringT the sealing operat-iongthe provision of such container in `which the hinge cooperates with the sealing strip for readily locating and locking. the latter in position during the assembling and sealing operations; the provision of such a container in which the hinge elements are fully operative after breakageof the seal; the further provision of a novel sealing strip and the provision of elements entering into the container structure which are relatively simple inconstruction and which may be manufactured `with the fewest of operative ste-ps to reduce the cost of container manufacture to a minimum.

To'the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear,1ny invention consists in the ele-1 ments and. their relationone to the other, as hereinafter particularly described and sought to bedefined in heilig had to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodimentof my invention and in which Figure 1 -is a perspective view of a hermetically sealed container.embodying vmy invention, Y

vFigure 2 is a Figurel,

Figure 3 is al section on th'e `line 25-2,

perspective view of a sealing designed to hermetically seal 'such a container as shown in Figure 1, and

` Figi`1re is a view of a detail.

Referring to the drawings, the container comprises side walls 5, to which is connected the bottom 64 and the cover 7, the bottom 6 being preferably provided preferably with a central, opening for a purpose to appear hereinafter., The cover 7 is preferably provided with downwardly extending flange portions 9 adapted portions of the side walls 5 when in closed position thereon.

`In my present invention the cover is con nected to the body side walls by any form of hinge construction, an approved form being hereill1.1strated and consisting of an Aoutwardly turned bead 10- forming part of one ofthe flanges 9 of the cover;"`the said bead enclosing' a pintle 11.I one walls 5`being drawings and outwardly extending depressions or ears 13 adapted to receive the pintle 11; these lelements hermeticalliy sealilr to the body side walls' strip 14: which is of the entirely around the flanges and the side walls by similar sealing means as shown the claims, reference present inst-ance completely protecting of the depressed type and` of the body sideI provided with opposed slits' 12, one of which -is'shown in Figure 4 of the rip-strip type and formed of relatively soft and readily bendable or foldable material, the said strip being designed to pass container,` as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, the strip preferably overlying the line of joint between the cover flanges 9 and the body 'side walls the ends of the strip being arranged in overlying relation as shown at 15,this

strip being connected to the depending cover soft solder or at 1'6 and 17 respectively in order to close all the joints. One end of the strip 14 isbent backto pro vide a loop 18, shown in Figure-1 of the drawings, which loop is no t soldered tothe con tainer and which is passed through la suit able key 19 by which the strip may be re-V moved. A key may or may not be employed, as desired. Then it is desired to break the seal it is only necessary to roll the ripstrip backonto its key, if a key is used, tearing it completely away from the con tainer, whereupon the cover 7 may be readily opened a'nd closed upon its hinge.

In 4order to protect the hinge elements from the step of soldering the strip 14 along the lines 16` and 17 and in order to effectively seal the tsaid-hinge elements to permit of'- the production of a vacuum tin, I provide thesealing strip withI a hinge accommodatingor receiving conformation, yshown in the as an elongated recess or depression 20, the said depression being air-i ranged in overlying relation on the hinge elements 10 to 13; this-constructionpro-V riding for housing` the'hinge elements and--Y the same from the soldering operation. Then the strip 14 provided with .the ldepression 20'is turned about the side walls 5 of the container for the soldering operation, the depression y 2O is positioned over the hinge elements-the cooperationbetween the depression 2O 'and the'` `hinge elements providing centering means for locating the strip latin proper position relative to the flanges 9 of the cover and the side walls 'of the such strip in A venting displacement thereof during the application ofsolder along the lines 16 and 17 as hereinabove referredto.

In the manufacture of the container the side walls and the hinged `cover are first interconnected, the ripstrip being then arranged and solderedin overlyingv relation to the cover and the body; the resulting container shell with the open bottom being then` shipped to the packer.- -The packer after placing the commodity to be packaged into container and locking pressed bottom 6 on the vcontainer side walls,

lthe rbottom edges of theasi'de Walls beingreoei'ved by the the jointV between` the bottom such centered position', pref `the. open bottom container, positions the deand .the side walls'5 being closed as by dipping the container in a tank of solder. The air in the container 1s then exhausted through the opening 8 to produce a vacuum,

the opening 8 being then closed bya drop of solder, as shown in Figure 2 of' the drawings. l

The operation and use of my 'device will, in the main, be`apparent`from the above detailed description thereof. It will be apparent that I have provided a hinged cover vacuum container in which 'all the joints are effectively hermetically sealed and in which. after breaking the hermetic seal, a' fully operative hinged box construction is permitted. Although I have. shownr my vinvention apf plied with the use of a well known form of hinge, it will be understood'that the invention is not limited to any particular form of hinge nor to any specific form of hinge accommodating depression, as obviously the contour of that part of the sealing strip that covers the hinge will depend upon the oonstruction of the hinge itself. In its broader aspect the invention resides in a vacuum container or tin having a hinged cover which is retained in position by means of a removable sealing or rip-strip, which, when removed, permits the cove"r to be readily openedand closed on its hinge.

Vhile I have shown my device in the preferred form, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may be made in thev structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claimg I claim: y'

l. A metal' container adapted to be exhausted to produce a vacuum receptacle; said container comprising a body, a cover hinged thereto and `means separate from the cover hermetically :sealing the cover to the body. said means overlying and enclosing the hinge; the said means being adapted for removal for -breaking the seal, .the cover after removal of said means being freely ,movable on its hinge. Y

2. A metal container comprising a body, a cover hinged thereto and a removable means hermetically sealing the cover to the body of the container and overlying and protecting the hinge, .whereby when the sealing,r means is removed the cover may be opened and closed on its hinge.

3. A metal container comprising a body, a

cover hinged thereto and a removable sealing strip overlying the hinge and the free edge of the cover and hermetically sealing the hinged cover to the body.

In a metal container', the combination of an open top box body, a cover hinged thereto; said cover having depending flanges adapted to overlie the upper edges of the box body, and a sealing strip encircling the body and overlying the free 'edge of the cover including its hinge, and sealing ma .terial placed along the edges of the strip.

5. In a metal container, the combination of an open topboX having a cover hinged thereto, with`a rip-strip overlying the free edge of the cover and having a' depression to fit over the hinge; lthe said strip sealing the cover to the'box.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a'

flat metallic sealing strip for acontainer having a hinged cover, said strip adapted to overlie the free edge of the cover. and having a portion' thereof 'so formed as to conform to the shape of Ia hinge.;

7. A fiat metallic sealing strip for effect- .ing a hermetic closure of a container`ha'ving a hinged cover, said strip being adapted to encircle the container and provided with a recess in one portion thereof to receive the yhinge when the strip 'is placed in position.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a. rip-strip comprising a. strap orband of relatively soft and .readily foldable metal having a depression 1n a predetermined por! tion only thereof. adapted to yoverlie and house a projecting hinge on a container.

9. As a new` article of manufacture, .1 metal container shell having an openbottom, a cover hinged thereto and removable means hermetically sealing the cover to the shell; said means overlying the hinge.

10. AS a new article of manufacture, a

metal container body having an open bottom, the body being provided with opposed slits and outwardly protruding depressions to accommodate a hinge pintle, a cover for the body having an outwardly turned bea/.l carrying the hinge pintle, the said cover being hingedly connected to the body, and a rip-strip hermetically sealing the cover to the body, said strip protectively enclosing and sealing the hinge.

11. A metal container comprising a body provided with opposed slits and outwardly protruding depressions in a side wall thereof for receiving 'a hinge pintle, a cover for the\body having an outwardly turned bead carrying the hinge pintle; the said cover being hingedly connected to the body` and a 4 sealing strip encircling the body and the cover and hermetically sealing the cover to the body; the said strip being provided with A a central depression fitting over the hinge bead and body depressions adapted to position and lock the strip over the cover and body and to protect the hinge elements during the seal'ng operation; the said strip being removable to break the seal and to permit free movementof the cover on its hinge. Signed at New York city,A in the county of New York and State of New York, this 26th day of February-l A. D. 1921.

HERMAN GOLDSMITH. 

